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Subscribe To Overwatch's First Anniversary Event Will Bring A Change In Items Updates
Overwatch is gearing up to celebrate its one-year anniversary and, to do that, they'll be launching a "Game of the Year" version of the game, hosting a free weekend, three-week anniversary shindig and some brand new items that should please fans of the series.
First up, both Sombra and Orisa will receive both laughing and sitting emotes. These characters came out following the launch of Overwatch and never got these actions that are standard other characters. No word yet on what those emotes will be but, knowing Blizzard, they'll match the characters nicely. As Kaplan puts it, these items aren't tied to any in-game events, so they can be unlocked at any time.
Also earning a new emote as a direct response to fans is a sassy shrug from Gabriel "Reaper" Reyes. This shrug will also be available as a spray. Apparently, Reyes broke out this shrug in a recent Overwatch comic and the fans went crazy for it.
All of those new items are heading to in-game loot boxes next week.
Of course, that's only some of the Overwatch news to come out in the past couple of days. Easily one of the most accurate uses of this phrase, we'll also be getting an Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition. Blizzard hasn't revealed pricing plans, but it looks like the game is coming next week across digital storefronts on PC and consoles. It'll include the full game, obviously, as well as 10 Loot Boxes, an "Origin" skin for five Overwatch characters, a Baby Winston Pet for folks who are also playing World of Warcraft, a Tracer Hero for Heroes of the Storm, a pair of Mercy's Wings in Diablo III, in-game portraits for StarCraft II and a special card back in Hearthstone.
If you still aren't sold, then maybe the upcoming Free Weekend from May 26-29 will help entice you. During that time, you'll be able to download and play the game to see if you feel it's worth a final purchase. If you do, obviously the Game of the Year edition will be the way to go.
Also, you'll be jumping into the community just in time for the big celebration. A one-year anniversary celebration is set to kick off soon and conclude on June 5. Blizzard will be hosting all kinds of in-game activities for Overwatch during the three-week period, as well as introducing a boatload of new items into the game.
Again, if you still haven't jumped onto the Overwatch bandwagon, its one-year anniversary is looking like the perfect time to do exactly that.


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Wisconsin 'RecallCam': Boring, Beautiful Or Both?
It seems, according to The Associated Press, that in just the past day or so about 30,000 people have taken the time to watch a silent, live webcast of Wisconsin state government workers methodically processing more than 309,000 petition pages from the movement to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R).
The processors are in what looks to be a very austere building (maybe a warehouse or storage facility?) at an unidentified location. The state's Government Accountability Board explains what they're doing here.
"Workers on camera are currently scanning petition pages so that electronic copies can be provided to the incumbents, and made available to the public," the board says. "Elsewhere at the center, workers are opening boxes and organizing the petitions in packets of 50 pages in preparation for scanning."
They'll be working away at the task into next week.
The mesmerizing webcast has led to a bit of a following and some pretty funny comments on Twitter. Look for @RecallCam. Followers have given some of the state workers nicknames and seem to enjoy imaging what they're thinking:
-- "Sheedy currently wondering whether she can fashion her mouse into a shank, prison-style."
-- "Things still a little icy between Sideburns and Flirty so far today. He might need to cast his net a little wider."
-- "BREAKING NEWS: White glasses girl has opted for a lovely pink scarf. According to multiple sources, this will not hold the scanning up."
We hope, for your sake, that NPR.org doesn't get any ideas about a webcam pointed at The Two-Way desk. Imagine the excitement.
(H/T to NPR's Catherine Laidlaw.)
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

domain: news


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At a time when investor appetite for risk has improved due to the progress achieved in the file of trade negotiations, whether by canceling the customs fees that were supposed to be applied from December 15, or the Chinese Ministry of Finance's affirmation this morning to cancel customs duties on some imports starting from day 20 Next January, the high price of gold continued to succeed in stabilizing above the resistance levels of 1480 dollars per ounce at the end of last week for several reasons, most notably:
1- The World Bank raised its forecast for gold demand in 2020 against the background of increasing reserves of central banks of gold, and the entry of gold into many industries such as electronics, which will be a strong supporter of high prices with most countries in the world going to those industries.
2- The high demand for gold by India and Australia "the second and third largest consumers of gold"
3 - The start of Christmas celebrations and the departure of most of the investors in the world to risk and go to gold until the start of the new year and know what will happen to the situation, whether from Brickett or trade war.
And prices reached with the start of weekly trading to levels of 1485 dollars an ounce, and in the case of stability above those levels we may see it again at levels of 1517 dollars an ounce.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded near its historical highs with the progress achieved in the file of trade negotiations at 28500 levels, and despite our positive expectations for the index in the medium term, it may give up some of its gains temporarily as the stochastic index approaches the overbought zone before resuming its rise from new. As for the German DAX, the price rebound from 13300 levels may support its decline to 13200 levels again.
The US dollar rose at the end of the weekly trading on the back of a noticeable improvement in economic data, the latest of which was GDP data and its increase by 2.1% in the third quarter and the rise in personal consumer spending, "a strong measure of inflation" from 1.4% to 1.5%.
This comes at a time when markets are awaiting durable goods orders data, which if it came better than expected, this will spread the spirit of optimism in the hearts of investors and push the US dollar to 98.00 levels again with a willingness not to cut interest in 2020.
Finally, the Canadian dollar witnessed strong declines after the negative data of retail sales, recording the worst decline since its inception by declining by 1.2%. The market is awaiting GDP data during October, which is expected to settle at 0.1%. If it shows any weakness, the Canadian dollar may rise again to 1.3180.
As for the stock markets .. Netflix shares have increased strongly by 3% over the past week with the increase in expectations for improved profits in 2020 after the latest statistics showed that Netflix has met a wide resonance in most developing countries than before to penetrate the stock levels of 335.47 and makes us expect it to continue rising to 380 dollars.


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Midland Kmart to close
Liquidation sales to begin later this month
A number of Michigan Kmarts — including the one in Midland — will be shuttering their doors, the company recently announced.
“After careful review, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close the Kmart stores in Belleville, Hastings, Menominee, Midland, Clio, Grayling, Oscoda and Marine City, Michigan," stated Larry Costello, public relations director for Sears/Kmart in an email to the Daily News.
The local Kmart is located at 1820 S. Saginaw Road, Midland.
The liquidation sales are expected to begin in mid-September, and the stores are planned to close by mid-December, Costello stated.
"We encourage customers to continue shopping on Kmart.com for all their product needs,” he added.


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updated 11:24 am EDT, Tue August 12, 2014
Device hacked enabling root access, SecureCircle apps unaffected
The "super-secure" Android Blackphone has been hacked by an attendee at the DefCon conference. In less than five minutes, the Google-backed device surrendered root access without unlocking the Android bootloader. Initially contested by the manufacturer, the company, Geeksphone, later thanked "Justin Case" for pointing out the flaw.
The Spanish company, headquartered in Madrid, that specializes in the development, promotion and commercialization of "open source" mobile telephony solutions. Geeksphone became the first European brand to launch an Android smartphone in 2009, and launched the world's first Firefox OS-powered smartphone in 2013.
The combined initiative is spearheaded by notable figures in the security industry, including Phil Zimmermann, creator of PGP; Javier Aguera, co-founder of Geeksphone; Jon Callas, co-founder of PGP Inc. and CTO of Silent Circle; Rodrigo Silva-Ramos, co-founder of Geeksphone; and Mike Janke, CEO of Silent Circle and former US Navy SEAL.
Blackphone runs PrivatOS, a heavily forked version of Android. The device started shipping to users in June. While the flaws expose the phone's operating system to attack, the Silent Circle application security remains unbroken.
The attack exploited a flaw in Android itself, which enabled the hacker to enable the Android Debug Bridge (ADB). The ADB is a command-line tool which allows developers to communicate with an Android device at a Kernel level. This can be used to install a variety of exploits if enabled on a phone.
"We are under the impression that this vulnerability affects many OEMs and not just Blackphone. When the vulnerability becomes public, we will implement the fix faster than any other OEM." said Chief Security Officer Dan Ford of the vulnerability.
Provoked by BlackBerry fans on Twitter, tweets from "Justin" now say that he is looking to break the security of BlackBerry 10 next. He is focusing on a flaw discussed at the DefCon conference with the Open Mobile Alliance Device Management protocol and other deprecated encryption methods.


text: Just wondering how that card drive is going over here at United for ALTA? Is Nov 11, 2020 the kick off date for the card drive?? As most of you may know already the Mechanic and Related at AA have sent in their cards to the NMB and appears they will get a vote with the numbers that AA sent in for the eligibility list and sigs samples, waiting to hear from NMB currently on approval to move forward. On a second note of industry news and updates; Spirit Airlines is also coming up on their 1 year of card collections for their Mechanic and Related as well as Maint Controllers. I believe their deadline is Dec 11th, 2020. May take a little longer for Them to get an election as the AA'ers are already in motion to have one first. Hope you guys are successful in getting a Class and Craft Union, ALTA, as your new representational union. Keep us posted on your progressions.


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A necklace that stores electronic health data to track child immunization via NFC has been named joint winner of the Wearables for Good challenge run by Unicef, ARM and Frog. “Khushi Baby is a data-storing necklace that provides a two year personal immunization record for children,” ARM explains. “Data is synced to the cloud and displayed on a dashboard accessible to health officials.”
- Apple to open up the iPhone’s NFC chip at WWDC?
- Alipay to invest $448m promoting face recognition payments in stores
- Visa unveils next generation payments platform
- German central banker calls for European payments network
- JCPenney pulls support for contactless payments


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Top global brands for 2014
Marketing and branding company Millward Brown recently released its list of top global brands for 2014. If you’re looking for signs of global economic growth, note that the BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list increased in value about 12 percent last year. That’s better than the average growth of about six percent since the 2008 Great Recession.
Here’s how the top ten global brands break down:
Google overtook Apple for the top spot, and tech companies claim the top four spots. Although U.S. sales for McDonald’s and Coca-Cola have slowed of late, both companies continue to do well internationally. One major surprise to me is Marlborough, although it makes sense when you consider that smoking is on the rise in Eastern Europe and other regions around the globe.
Among the list of top 100 global brands, three tech companies and a furniture retailer experienced the highest growth in brand value last year:
- Tencent (97%)
- Facebook (68%)
- BT (61%)
- Ikea (61% brand value increase)
Top newcomers include many companies I thought would have been there all along, until you consider that some recently offered IPOs, acquired other companies, or continue to recover since 2008.
- Twitter at #71
- LinkedIn at #77
- Ford at #83
- Bank of America at #94
- Paypal at #97


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Perry Hooper: COVID-19 is still a crisis, and we must support Alabama's small businesses
With so much news to absorb in recent months, it has been easy to overlook the continuing small business crisis in our state.
While we have been preoccupied by the mounting coronavirus cases and deaths, soaring unemployment and unprecedented political turmoil, thousands of Alabama small businesses have been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. This is not their fault. They were ordered to close their doors. These businesses employ more than half of all Alabamians and are major drivers of our economy.
The stock market may be soaring near all-time highs, but this does not reflect the suffering that remains on main street. Most of us are back at work, but things are not normal. Not even close.
Millions of dollars were lent to Alabama businesses through the Payroll Protection Program. However, it ended months ago, and it was nowhere near enough. According to the Wall Street Journal, nationwide 300 companies who received 500 million in PPP loans have filed for bankruptcy.
Even after reopening, retail, restaurants and other service businesses still operate under severe restrictions as the virus continues to spread. Several Alabama small businesses — many family owned and operated for generations — have closed never to reopen.
The pandemic has lasted longer than most all projections, resulting in dire circumstances for most small businesses.
In Alabama, the food service industry is taking a devastating hit according to statistics provided by Mindy Hannon, executive director of the Alabama Hospitality Association. The Industry employs 211,800 Alabamians representing 10% of all employment in the state with annual sales of $9.8 billion. In April alone, the Industry lost a staggering $585 million in sales that they will never recover. 76% of food service operators have made layoffs or furloughs representing 114,000 neighbors who work in this industry. 69% of all restaurant operators say that it is unlikely that they will be profitable in six months. Worst of all, an almost unbelievable 68% say that it is unlikely that they will still be in business in 6 months without an additional relief package.
I am the last person, who in normal times, would be calling for government stimulus packages, but these are extraordinary times. Our leaders in Washington must immediately come together and pass a responsible targeted bill to help our small businesses.
While we wait on Washington to help our Alabama businesses, it is time for all of us to be good neighbors and do our part. We must go out of our way to support our locally owned small businesses. When possible, forgo ordering online and mask up and visit a local business. Instead of the drive thru at a fast-food chain, pick up or have delivered food from a local restaurant.
The governors of many states are making moves towards another lockdown, which would be devastating to their small businesses, overall economy, and the wellbeing of their citizens.
I commend Governor Kay Ivey for her support of small businesses. She has announced her support of the Keep Alabama Open Initiative led by CEO and president of the Business Council of Alabama Katie Britt. The campaign also has the support of several entities, such as the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama, National Federation of Independent Business, Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association, and Alabama Retail Association.
Governor Ivey has also released $200 million in additional funding for Alabama small businesses. Revive Alabama will give Alabama businesses that have less than 50 employees up to $20,000 in grants for expenses they have incurred because of the pandemic.
As Governor Ivey has stated many times: ”You cannot have a life without a livelihood.” We are all in this together, and we can survive this crisis by working together.
Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a former state representative and a current member of the State Republican Executive Committee.


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Coca-Cola appointing WPP as its lead agency for just about everything last year was probably just about the most significant account move and the mighty resources of WPP’s newly-minted Open X team have now produced a new global “platform” for $20bn brand Sprite – ‘Heat Happens.’
And an all-powerful mnemonic – ‘bing bang bong, bing bang bong (repeat as required.)
Is that it, you may ask?
Well it might not be as daft as it sounds, back in the mists of history McDonald’s decided to plaster ‘I’m lovin’ it’ over all its ads, an Americanism that jarred with, say, its UK ads which had a different tone altogether. But you got used to it.
These bings and bongs are aimed squarely at Gen Z (teenies and others currently obsessed by TikTok) according to Sprite global brand director Shrenik Dasani who says it’s.. “tailored to what we believe are Gen Z lifestyle truths. Our ambition really is to engage Generation Z and recruit them into a weekly ritual of consuming Sprite.”
So Sprite’s the thing to help frustrated teens cope with hassles, ‘heat moments’ as Sprite has it. Social media (including TikTok) is doubtless designated to do the really heavy lifting.
Trying to anticipate Gen Z behaviour must be rather akin to herding cats although, doubtless, Open X has commissioned yards of research to back this up.
Will it work? Haven’t a clue and only time will tell. Easy to see how it can be global anyway.


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In early 2021, Google announced they would be removing third-party cookies from the Chrome browser and moving to a more privacy-centric advertising model, sending shockwaves through the advertising, academic and tech world. Although much has been written on the transition and its technical workings — including by us — the true scale of this transition has been lost in the conversation. Google’s move represents just a fragment of a momentous shift in Alphabet’s corporate strategy.
Shoshana Zuboff showed how Google revolutionized online advertising by discovering that the “data exhaust” created by internet users as they visited websites and looked at pages could be collected, analyzed, packaged and sold to other companies that wanted to target particular people with marketing. Over almost two decades, Google has parlayed this exhaust into a dominant share in the online advertising market: their online ad revenue in 2020 was US$134.8 billion in a total global market estimated at US$325 billion in 2019, which seems a dominant position, with some estimating that 83.3 percent of the revenue of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, comes from Google’s ad business. Third-party cookies are a primary means of data acquisition, but if their time is at an end, what exactly comes next, and why?
By following the bread crumb trail of Google’s new advertising strategy, we can get a clear sense of what Alphabet believes is its future: artificial intelligence (AI). Although the global AI market is currently valued, according to an analysis by the International Data Corporation (IDC), at US$156.5 billion in 2020, well below the online ad business, the market is in its infancy and expected to grow exponentially; the IDC predicts that even when the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the market are accounted for, the AI market will grow to US$300 billion by 2024. Further, a report by Grand View Research predicts that the market could surpass US$700 billion by 2027, more than double the size of the current online ad market. But that may be a conservative estimate.
By following the bread crumb trail of Google’s new advertising strategy, we can get a clear sense of what Alphabet believes is its future: artificial intelligence.
Alphabet is banking on obtaining a substantial share of the AI market, which will be far more lucrative than its current dominant share of the advertising market — but this is still just the beginning. Alphabet is further interested in developing AI that will allow the company to become industry leaders in fields with which it is not commonly associated, from pharmaceuticals and health care (a market worth trillions), to self-driving transport trucks.
Google’s pivot to AI is consistent with not only with its corporate strengths but also overall market trends. Google has positioned itself as an early investor in promising technologies and was an early leader in AI development. It has consistently spearheaded breakthroughs in the field, such as the development of AlphaGo, an early indicator for AI’s future potential. Google further finds itself in an advantageous position due to its previous business goal of “organizing the world’s information,” which gives it access to vast amounts of data for AI training. Google plans to cement this dominance, and Canada (and other national governments) should prepare their response.
Tending the FLoCs
In the absence of third-party cookies, the technology that has allowed Chrome (and other browsers) to track a user’s actions across the Web, Google has introduced a technology known as Federated Learning of Cohorts, or FLoCs. FLoCs are the beginning of a shift toward a targeted advertising model wherein the advertising company does not need to amass identifiable data on a subject in order to serve effective ads. In essence, FLoCs operate via a deep learning system, a roving AI that periodically enters a user’s device through the Chrome browser when the device is plugged in, so that the user does not notice any power usage interruptions. The AI will then access the user temporal data — the most recent interactions on the browser, potentially the user’s URL history — and use the data to classify the user into a cohort (a cohort is a group of similar users identified as having similar traits and preferences). Once the AI has identified the user’s cohort, and trained itself on the user’s data (more on this below), it departs the Chrome browser, leaving behind only the user’s new cohort ID.
In this system, advertisers will no longer market to individuals who, on the basis of their individual profiles, the advertisers have determined may be interested in their product or service; instead, they will market to specific cohorts of hundreds of people who Google have determined are alike enough for specific marketing purposes. Although marketing to groups instead of individuals may seem less effective, it is already a common tactic in retail marketing, wherein consumers are targeted based on a number of “segments”; further, Google has claimed that FLoCs are 95 percent as effective as its former privacy-invasive method.
However, FloCs were not designed by Google specifically for advertising. They are the first widely visible application of a new AI-driven technique called federated learning. Federated learning is a technique that allows an AI model to train on a user’s device, eliminating the need for mass centralized data collection for AI training. Consider, for example, how an in-home assistant, such as Google Home, or Amazon’s Alexa, learns from users’ patterns of responses and provides answers that are supposedly more attuned to their desires.
If we designed our own smart home assistant — let’s call it “HAL9000” — we would first need to train it on a large, tailored data set. This original data set could be obtained in numerous ways, including by producing it in-house or purchasing a custom vocal-command AI-training data set from a company such as Lionbridge. Once the initial system was trained, HAL9000 would be sent out for a beta test and, eventually, to consumers. However, the secret to a good AI is that the more data the operating model is exposed to, the better it becomes. This means that the data being collected by our HAL9000 devices in customers’ homes would be extremely valuable to the company, as using it to train the AI models that run HAL9000 would make it exponentially better and, therefore, more competitive in the market.
Traditionally, when data is extracted, it is exported from the user’s device to a centralized location to be processed and analyzed. This transfer has been the source of most privacy concerns around online ad systems. If AI-based systems — such as assistants — are to become parts of customers’ personal lives, they — and regulators — would not be pleased by big tech constantly capturing their personal conversations with their devices. Federated learning, so it seems, offers an elegant solution.
Extending our HAL9000 example, instead of centralizing the data and training in one location, our AI training model would “hop” between all of the HAL9000 devices in the world. When the model arrived on a device, it would train on the data stored on the device, creating a new updated model of itself. The AI model would then delete the old model running the HAL9000 device and duplicate itself, leaving one version of the updated model behind while the other hopped to the next HAL9000 device to train on its data. Through this method, AI models can be trained on extremely sensitive data sets with far more data security and privacy, because the users’ data never leaves their devices. The only product that would leave a user’s HAL9000 device would be the now-encrypted new model, which, even if decrypted, would not provide any insights into the user’s personal data upon which it trained.
The security and data privacy in the federated learning model is fundamental to Alphabet’s new mission: becoming an “AI-first” company — that is, Alphabet and Google’s transition from being an advertising-funded company to a corporation whose primary focus is AI. Evidence for this shift comes both from Google’s actions and from CEO Sundar Pichai’s recent statements. Specifically, Pichai has stated in multiple investor calls that Google is now an AI-first company, and further cemented this changing corporate focus during his Google I/O address, when he stated, “We are moving from a company that helps you find answers to a company that helps you get things done.” In 2017, Pichai clarified to investors that this has always been a long-term strategy, and that although the goal of organizing the world’s information — a goal inseparable from the economic value of Google Search, Google’s original product — will remain the company’s guiding principle for the coming decade, Google has also “been laying a foundation for the next decade as we pivot to an AI first company, powering the next generation of Google products like the Google Assistant.” Alphabet’s focus on a transition to AI reveals the motivation behind another major Google investment: hardware.
Google has not typically been associated with hardware. However, in recent years it has increasingly produced physical Google products, such as Chromebooks, Pixel phones, Nest smart home products and Google Home virtual assistants. Google is funding the development of its less profitable hardware projects through its revenue from advertising as part of a longer-term strategy. Specifically, Google has been ramping up its integration of AI into its hardware, and envisions Google Assistant as a future selling point for all Google hardware. Google’s goal is to create an interface integrated across all of our devices that could interact with others as if it were a real person and could perform tasks, such as making phone calls, in your place. Undoubtedly, the producer of the devices that could support this advanced AI assistant would have a huge competitive advantage.
The catch is that for this technique to be successful at gathering mass data, it must be voluntarily installed on thousands of independent websites across the internet. Google has a way of doing exactly this: Google Analytics, a website analytics platform that can be used free of charge. The system offers substantial value to any website operator, as it provides insights into their users’ on-site behaviour. However, unbenownst to many who opt to use Google Analytics, Google obtains the ability, through web beacons, to access much of the data collected through the platform.
Web beacons were originally used for advertising and for building user portfolios across the web. However, Google has recently added an “anonymization” feature, which allows companies to withhold the complete Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of their users from Google. The feature allows the data customer to know the geographic region of its users, but not their exact physical or online locations. Removing the need for IP addresses means that web beacons would no longer be so useful in tracking individuals, which fits with the move to FLoCs. Thus, while Google is still collecting “data exhaust” and can construct vast data sets, because its web beacons use first-party cookie technology, they are not covered by regulation of the use of third-party cookies.
AI, Privacy and the Data Commons
The transition to AI makes for several important shifts in critical focus, which are perhaps long overdue. To begin with, we need to ask whether FLoCs, or any of the operations that go into making them, are covered by the more advanced existing and proposed personal data protection and privacy regulations, for example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or Canada’s Bill C-11. The conception of privacy associated with these laws revolves around our right not to be known at a deep personal level by unaccountable organizations and not to have our actions and beliefs manipulated through the extraction and analysis of our data. Privacy laws protect a highly individualized self through conventional legal mechanisms that are themselves focused on the individual.
The movement to AI adds a new problem, as the data collected is no longer primarily utilized to profile individuals but instead to target groups and to create general machines and applications. By using FLoCs, corporations such as Google can claim to be respecting the privacy of individual users, since they are no longer collecting and storing personal data off the users’ devices. However, they are able to leverage the same level of knowledge about the individual user and, potentially, to generate similar profits, by accepting that we are not as unique as we would like to believe, and that we can be segmented and predicted if treated as members of a social whole. The big difference from conventional marketing segmentation is that FLoCs are being constantly updated and improved through AI systems. This distinction leads to important philosophical and policy questions: Is it how an organization comes to know us that is important, or the fact that they know? And does the focus on legal maintenance of privacy matter quite as much in these circumstances?
To answer these questions is beyond this article’s scope, but we do not see the question as settled, as Alphabet appears to believe. Clearly, there are fewer direct privacy implications from the operation of cohorts once they are constructed. But, to construct them, personal data needs to be collected and processed, and it is unclear that simply doing so on the user’s device or browser means that Google can escape regulation under, say, the GDPR.
However, it may be that in deploying arguments about privacy and data protection, we could be using the wrong human-rights tools for this new situation. Among the most challenging questions that must be asked about the new AI development marketplace is the one about data usage and ownership. The metaphor that “big data is the new oil” is vastly overused and actively unhelpful in many aspects, but it might still be useful in drawing attention to the idea of data as a resource.
We believe that the individual orientation of not only data protection and privacy laws but also data privatization proposals is inadequate in dealing with data as a public good extracted from the commons.
Over the past few generations, data has been extracted from our everyday interactions — slowly, over the first 150 years or so, and then, in the past couple of decades, much more rapidly and precisely, so that our lives are now more readily transformable into data. A common current proposal, with the objective of accelerating the process of extraction — in other words, of fully subsuming data into the marketplace — is to do what was done with land in the pre-industrial revolution and colonial period, and enclose it as fully private property. According to this view, if data has value and is the basis of the new economy, it follows that users should be paid for their data. Accordingly, all data should be commodified and its value “paid” to those from whom it is extracted. Dollar signs always make for a seductive argument, but the proposal fails on three grounds. First, while massive data sets are very valuable, the specific value of any individual’s data is negligible; indeed, it only acquires value through combination. Second, this move would further reinforce existing inequalities and economies of conventional wealth and power, as well as of image: some people’s data is assigned vastly more significance, and is therefore more valuable, than others’. Finally, of course, and worst of all, this move would basically legally enshrine data exploitation as unchallengeable and just “how things are.”
We believe that the individual orientation of not only data protection and privacy laws but also data privatization proposals is inadequate in dealing with data as a public good extracted from the commons. Ironically, an understanding of data as commons, sparked by AI-based technologies such as FLoCs, means that one can imagine different ways in which mass data sets could be made available and accessible to all; unlike physical commons, data commons cannot be subject to exhaustion or over-exploitation. One can imagine multiple common-data futures, such as the civic data trusts described by Bianca Wylie and Sean McDonald, and a vast array of transformative economic effects delivered through AI.
But harnessing AI in Canada is not just about industrial policy and state investment; it is also about regulatory innovation. Partly, this is because we can’t trust a corporation as large as Alphabet to self-regulate, especially when we have abundant evidence that its internal AI ethics on race and gender are woeful, leading recently to the pushing out of two of its leading critical ethicists, Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, the resignation of a third, Samy Bengio, and widespread internal disarray. Issues with AI around data and training bias are now well understood among critics, if not acknowledged by platform corporations themselves, and the social (in)justice implications of these issues require external intervention. While Google and other major platform corporations might be able to follow the letter of the law on data protection and privacy, even in a regulation as complex as the European Union’s GDPR, this does not mean that their use of data is fair or just. In an emerging world of data commons, data justice will have to be as important as privacy as an organizing, if not legal, principle.
Regulation is also no kind of a barrier: it would create new opportunities while protecting the data commons and individual rights, putting a stop to damaging opportunism and enclosure. Two simple developments could solidify Canada’s place as an a leader in just AI and common data. First, we need comprehensive guidelines and regulations for the development and use of AI in Canada, similar to, but even more progressive than, the European Union’s proposed AI regulation. Second, we must require that all Canadian mass data, collected by a Canadian company, or by a foreign company in Canada, be treated as a common resource, accessible by any Canadian wishing to utilize the data for the development of new technologies, civic and social programs, art or, indeed, for any ethical purpose. This could spark new waves of AI innovation, both in the terms of conventional capitalist competition and in terms of civil and social innovation for the common good.


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CaseLabs has announced it is filing for bankruptcy and going into liquidation. The custom PC case and accessory company puts the majority of the blame on US trade tariffs, which it states “cut deeply into our margins” at a very inopportune time. But some of the blame also lies in growing debt that the company was unable to pay off.
CaseLabs is well-known for its industrial style cases available in various loadouts. These modular aluminium cases were also pretty pricey. Cases range in price from a couple hundred dollars to just shy of $1000 with all the extras. The flagship case, the Mercury S8, started out life at around $440.
The company is attempting to fulfill as many outstanding orders as it possible can before it’s all over, however, it looks unlikely that it will be able to get out every order still open. Part orders will supposedly be done and dusted before the shutters come down, but case customers won’t be so lucky. While the website is still online for the time being, it is no longer accepting any orders.
Customers with outstanding orders might be out of luck when it comes to getting there money back, too. Unfortunately for the consumer, any money left in a company’s assets or accounts when declaring bankruptcy is used to pay off outstanding creditors, and the general consumer can be pretty low on the food chain to get their money back – even potentially being struck from the list entirely.
At least recent customers who paid using a credit card may be covered for purchases falling through like this, but that all depends on the bank, lender, etc. If this in any way applies to you, you best get moving fast.
CaseLabs were reportedly struggling with increased costs due to the trade tariffs, which are the result of an ongoing, and escalating, trade war between the US and China. Raw materials, especially the likes of aluminium and steel, have been subject to tariffs ranging from 10% to 25% respectively as a result.
Similar US/China tariffs on electronic components were announced nearly a month ago, too. However, in CaseLabs case (no pun intended), it was also a default on a large account that also aided in closing doors prematurely for the PC chassis company.
“The tariffs have played a major role raising prices by almost 80% (partly due to associated shortages), which cut deeply into our margins”, CaseLabs says in a statement on its now defunct online store. “The default of a large account added greatly to the problem. It hit us at the worst possible time.”
CaseLabs is a subsidiary of the California Fabrication Company, which fabricates metal for various business and sectors out of California (surprising, I know). Despite attempting to strike a deal that would result in keeping the lights on for a little longer, both companies have had to declare bankruptcy due to struggling financials.


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Leaf Trading Cards has answered a Topps lawsuit over its use of pictures depicting old Topps cards in a Leaf Best of Baseball sell sheet.
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Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren has filed a lawsuit against Panini America over the production of football cards he says he didn’t authorize.March 4, 2010 By
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Players will sign jersey lettering for use as inserts in ’06 Donruss football. Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala had nightmares about having to do this.July 18, 2006 By
A friend of Barry Bonds' former girlfriend says Bonds cranked out autographed balls at a rate of $100 each when he needed quick cash.


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The Parliament of Sierra Leone has on Thursday 9th March 2023, ratified a trade and investment agreement geared towards the economic development of Sierra Leone.
The ratified agreement includes an agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and Capitol Foods Limited.
Presenting the Government Motion, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Haja Isata Abdulai-Kamara recalled the establishment of the Capitol Food Products and explained the investment of products.
She categorically informed all that the company produced non-alcoholic beverages on affordability, and went further to state that the company has already invested $15 million to set up a manufacturing facility in Kenema.
The Deputy Minister informed Parliament that, Capitol Foods Limited is also intending to expand its operations by establishing a fruit juice processing plant and bottling with an installed production capacity of between 60,000 and 120,000 liters per day and plastic production unit at Grafton within eight months.
Explaining the importance of the investment, the Deputy Minister said the company would predicate on the promotion of local content policy and also has the tendency to export products, in light of improving the foreign exchange rate. She spoke comprehensively about many other potential opportunities that the company would provide and assured everyone that the agreement would result in economic growth and development amidst huge employment.
In his contribution to the debate, Hon. Charles Abdulai said the agreement is a continuation of the Capital investment.
He stated that the agreement is not controversial, but some areas need to be scrutinized to mitigate some risk factors. The MP lauded the agreement for reasonable tax exemptions and employment.
The Capitol Food Products, he said, is beneficial and the agreement is good for the people of Sierra Leone.
Hon. Dr. Mark-Mahmoud Kaloko spoke about the investment capacity of the company and informed the House that they as opposition would always support what is good.
The MP highlighted the potential investment opportunities of the company and safety measures as well as the payment of taxation.
He also advised them to work in tandem with the felt needs of the people on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Hon. Keikura Vandy said one way the Government could boost the economy is to promote the impact industries and the company is one.
According to him, the Government had intended to create a business environment and enhance security for indigenous industries.
The MP went on to say that when the busiwell-capacitated, more investors would be attracted to establish industries. He assured the House that the investment aspect would improve the economy.
Hon. Alex Rogers criticized the agreement because most of those agreements lacked some important documents including Environmental Social Impact Assessment, Free Prior Informed Consent of the people, and Comprehensive Business Plan and also to work with the felt needs of the people.
Hon. Dr. Roland Kargbo said that the agreement is not controversial, but raised some concerns based on supply and demand. He also spoke about the sustainability of paying royalties royalty to landowners. He advised the Ministry to look into the critical issues.
Hon. Williams-Lamin thanked President Bio for creating such an investment environment and expressed appreciation company’s company investment capacity.
The MP highlighted the importance of the agreement in erm of fund transactions through the Bank of Sierra Leone. He also spoke e about the security, and safety of the workers and commended the company for investing in food, while other countries are deprived of such products.
Hon. Sahr Charles raised a series of concerns over the proposed implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility in consultation with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the guar tee of employment of Sierra Leoneans in senior management positions by the company.
The MP went on to also raise concerns the s about the proposed implementation of local content policy and how to address accidents of workers during operation and the time frame of the conduct of operation in light of the initial stage. He expressed worries that the company would make excuses toperationsperation. The MP used the opportunity to ask the Ministry to encourage Standard Bureau to step up to ensure standards. He described the agreement as a good one and expressed hope that it would open employment for the people.
Hon. Francis Kaisamba said that the company is doing well and investing in all that Sierra Leone needs such type of companies to improve the economy. He noted that it would be prudent to come along with company management fan or such occasion. He raised concerns that the company has not done much in terms of Corporate Social responsibility for Kenema.
In rounding off the debate, the Acting leader of the Opposition, Hon. Hassan Sesay said that they would always support what is good for the people of Sierra Leone. He spoke on the improvement of foreign exchange by the company and the economic boom. He buttressed risk management factors earlier mentioned by previous makers and the company’s compliance with due diligence and also training of locals. The MP asked the company to provide services service for their workers. He expressed hope that all that is in the agreement or paper be implemented.
Concluding the debate, the Leader of Government Business Hon. Mathew Sahr Nyuma clarified that the company had already spent Fifteen dollars Dollar USD 15 on the facility in Kenema. He and about the level of production capacity and affordability of the products. He also spoke about the responsibility of the company in light of promoting local farmers and the responsibility of the government regards agribusiness and improving the livelihood of the farmers.
“I want the company to buy from local farmers to empower them,” he appealed.
The Leader explained the obligation and regulations of the company including recruitment and insurance policy. He went on to suggest periodic training for workers to mitigate certain risks and also asked various institutions to improve on monitoring to enhance standards of products, in light of health considerations. The MP admonished the company to produce in consonance with quality standards and asked the House to consider the financial dignity of the company, relative to transparency.
However, the Leader expressed concerns over the company’s compliance with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the people in Kenema and the scale of employment. The Leader scored consistency of Governmensoso as to capacitate SMEs to paze with the company to boost the economy. He emphasized the remote oval of the bureaucracy of loans to loans. He encouraged the company to capacity-building building training based on knowledge transfer for locals. He emphasized monitoring the enforcement relative to the implementation of the laws.


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Facebook Vice President David Marcus is the face of the company's Libra digital currency, but the original driving force was a 26-year-old female engineer named Morgan Beller.Technologyread more
CoinShares Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors discusses Facebook's Libra project and its impact on the cryptocurrency market after testifying to the House Financial...Fast Moneyread more
After a year of flooding, Midwest farmers face a stifling heat wave that's spreading across the U.S.Agricultureread more
Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims a British tanker it still holds, Stena Impero, failed to follow international maritime rules.World Newsread more
Moving lots of data to a public cloud over the internet can take months or years. CNBC got an inside look at how AWS transfers data to the cloud for its clients.Technologyread more
A quarter of the S&P 500 companies report earnings next week, and that could buffet the market as investors await the July Fed meeting.Market Insiderread more
Some 40% of Americans would struggle to come up with even $400 to pay for an emergency expense. Just how are so many Americans so short on cash? Blame debt.Personal Financeread more
Amazon hires Trump-allied lobbyist Jeff Miller as battle for Pentagon contract heats up.Politicsread more
In a series of tweets, the president addressed an unusual controversy stemming from a speech delivered Thursday by New York Fed President John Williams.Marketsread more
"You need to understand that we're about to embark on the busiest week of the year for industrial earnings," CNBC's Jim Cramer says.Mad Money with Jim Cramerread more
Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren is lining up against an apparent push to cut interest rates, telling CNBC in an interview Friday that the central bank can...The Fedread more
Physical gold is coming to the digital gold rush known as blockchain technology — and one company is working to ensure that it's responsibly sourced.
That's according to a U.S.-based financial technology company, Emergent Technology Holdings, that is hoping to digitally encode the gold supply chain using blockchain tech in the first half of this year.
The company is creating a digital token that it says will be backed fully by gold in the hopes of offering a way to trade the metal with greater liquidity, says Emergent's chief commercial officer, Mitchell Davis.
By digitally recording each stage of the gold supply chain, the company is able to guarantee the provenance of each piece of the metal, certify that it's responsibly sourced and check that it's 99.99 percent pure. It'll all be recorded on a virtually unchangeable digital ledger: a blockchain.
Emergent Technology is partnering with NYSE-listed Yamana Gold to create "g-coins" backed by gold, where one coin is said to be equivalent to one gram of responsibly sourced gold, and is pegged to the spot price of gold. As a blockchain-based asset, each g-coin is a digital certificate of ownership that could be used for investing, wealth transfer and payments.
This isn't the only attempt at tracking gold on a blockchain, but the company said its approach is "fundamentally different" from what others have adopted so far in part because of its focus on "responsibly sourced gold."
"Emergent is looking to build an ecosystem," Davis told CNBC in an email. As such, the company tracks the gold from its source mine, helping to "connect all steps in the supply-chain."
By attaching a cryptographic seal to the gold, they are able to use technology to track it at every point along the way, says Davis.
According to Emergent, miners like Yamana will be able to use a mobile application that scans "smart chips in tamper-proof seals and records transfer of custody and other data on the Responsible Gold blockchain."
Each step of the process is recorded, and is publicly visible.
"You've got a trusted asset that is liquid, is traded globally and is fully backed by gold," Davis said of the resulting digital token.
Using blockchain technology, the company hopes to make the process of taking gold from mines to vaults easier and automated.


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Starting Sept. 19, BK Japan to roll out two new 'Kuro Burgers'
For a limited time, starting September 19, Burger King Japan is rolling out two new burgers in its "Kuro Burger" series: Kuro Diamond and Kuro Pearl.
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With plans to shut down at least 100 stores across the country, McDonald's Japan plans to utilize its home delivery service. Instead of going there, Mickey D's comes to your home.
Burger King Japan unveils its limited-time 'BK Pumpkin burger'
Burger King Japan has recently introduced its newest concoction, the BK Pumpkin. The BK Pumpkin is only available for a limited time from October 26 until December.
Burger King Japan sells limited time five-patty Whopper
Burger King Japan is currently offering a five-patty Whopper to celebrate its fifth anniversary in the country. The promotion runs through Monday.
Burger King Japan offering customers 15 strips of bacon on burger
Tokyo - As Homer Simpson would say, "Mmmm...bacon..." The Burger King franchises in Japan will soon be offering its customers for a limited time the choice of adding 15 strips of bacon to their burger for 110 yen ($1.24).
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Google is all set to launch its new local news website primarily for local sports news. It is a matchup project which mainly showcases the best-ever sports content from local media outlets all over the US; it also covers the professional and college sports with depth and even the hometown sight. 'The Matchup' will be a part of existing sports pages on member sites, and the new page will be launched soon in 2021.
Google has reported that the Local Media Consortium (LMC) will be running the project, with the help of the Google News Initiative (GNI). LMC already has a humungous 78 million sports reading audience, third only to Yahoo. "Now, with a single subscription to a hometown news site, subscribers can access sports coverage from local beat writers who know the team's best. And we hope that other avid sports fans will join us by subscribing locally," stated Google.
Google has also said that it will soon be launching a specified destination for The Matchup, which will telecast all the local sports news and columns covering the entire major pro and college team matches in both the USA and Canada. The site will be available for free for all the users; people will also be able to follow specific teams, leagues, and players with a modified and customized dashboard.


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“They sell an awful lot of high-end SUVs,” Mark Yockey, a New York-based managing director at Artisan Partners, said before the company released results. “There’s a waiting line to buy Highlanders in the U.S., and those sell at much higher margins than if you’re just selling Corollas.”
Toyota’s net income also led the industry for the quarter. Its profit was about 30 percent higher than Volkswagen’s 3.19 billion euros ($4.4 billion), and surpassed the combined earnings of General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.
The full-year sales target for Asia excluding Japan was trimmed to 1.58 million vehicles from 1.63 million, while Europe was nudged up to 860,000 from 850,000. Japan was left unchanged at 2.21 million. The first sales-tax increase in 17 years in Japan in April dented demand for new cars in the company’s home market and Toyota’s April-June domestic sales dropped 10 percent year-on-year to 319,460 vehicles.


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Uncertain body of Gaddafi is on display in a commercial freezer at a shopping center. Libyan authorities are still on the debate for management of Gaddafi’s blood-streaked body. authorities are still trying to figure out where to bury his body.
The body, stripped to the waist and wearing beige trousers, is laid on a bloodied mattress on the floor of a room-sized freezer where restaurants and stores in the centre keep perishables. With his burial not scheduled for several days, the dead tyrant's corpse is being kept in a chiller used by restaurants to store perishable foods.
Hundreds of ordinary Libyans queued up outside a refrigerated meat store in Misrata, where the dead dictator was being stored as a trophy. A guard allowed small groups into the room to celebrate next to Gaddafi's body. A bullet hole is visible on the left side of his head and in the centre of his chest, and dried blood streaks his arms and head.
Authorities have said that he will be buried secretly, but is that possible?


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- Christmas decorations, cake and a tree: Festive traditions come alive for Volkswagen India head and family
- A coronavirus board game, invented by German sisters in lockdown, sells out for Christmas
- 'Tis the season for some stollen to make Christmas special
- Make Christmas special for your loved ones with these luxe gift hampers
A recent eBay survey found that techies made 40 million purchases per month during the holidays. Categories like video games and consoles, mobile phones and accessories, computer and laptops and consumer electronics observed the highest demand while demand for vintage electronics, smartphones and video game accessories spiked by 69 per cent, 62 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.
eBay also revealed that techie shoppers spent 12 mins per shopping visit and 29 days on average to make a purchase. Some of the top keywords they searched for during the holidays were Nintendo Switch, Chromebook, PS5, Apple watch band, Bluetooth speaker and Roku.
The e-commerce platform also observed that techies preferred to shop online this year. 79 per cent of techies said they would do more of their holiday shopping online as compared to the previous years. 83 per cent agreed that product discovery is easier online as compared to physical stores.
Whether For You Or A Loved One, These Delicious Hampers Will Add Festive Cheer To Your Holi...
Christmas With A Side Of Delish
Spending Christmas with family, or planning a feast for one? Whatever your Christmas plans, the delectable hamper by The Oberoi, New Delhi will fit in perfectly.
Pick from a selection of their Christmas breads and cakes, an assortment of handmade chocolates, macarons, honey and dry fruits, gourmet pasta and oils, preserves and more to curate the perfect hanper.
They also have traditional Plum cakes and pudding, Stollen spiked with flavour of marzipan, Dundee cakes decorated with blanched almonds, delicately braided Jewish bread- Challah, cinnamon and Christmas fruits, Austrian Kugelhopf breads, Panettone- an Italian sweet bread loaded with candied citron, lemon zest and raisins, and not to mention the popular Mince Pies to add to the yuletide cheer.
Price: Rs 2,500 (plus taxes) onwards
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APEX 5.1 early adopter
Exciting news coming from Oracle APEX camp
Leave what you are doing and get ready!
This morning I noticed a post by Jorge Rimblas that Oracle APEX team is about to release EA for APEX 5.1 version.
What exciting news for us all so watch the space!
More on apex.world or http://apexea.oracle.com/
What a way to start a day.
updated: 2/6/2016 5.1 EA workspaces available as of now. :)


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While Appel did budge and increase the size of the Apple iPhone with the iPhone 5, however a 4″ screen in 2014 isn’t the right size? Has the market moved away from Apple’s magical iPhone screen size? Something that was gigantic back in 2007 even with 3.5″ surface.
In documents submitted to the court during the ongoing Samsung vs Apple patent battle, it has come to light that Apple has been fretting over the iPhone screen size falling short of popular demand. Cheap Android devices with 5″ screens have become very popular with manufacturers like Micromax making the most of this opportunity.
Apple pioneered touch screen phones that have no buttons, they upped the game with the Retina Display on the iPhone 4 in 2010. However 4 years later, competitors have great hardware on their phones and have toppled Apple’s dominance by throwing quantity like more RAM, more processing power and bigger displays at a lower cost. Given the plethora of Samsung Galaxy and other devices on the market that fits perfectly into a first time smartphone buyers budget, their upgrade cycles stick to Android and these users get used to larger 5″ displays.
Apple has had a valid argument that large displays are bad for usability. So far the iPhone 5 /5S sells in good numbers with the 4″ screen, but would the iPhone 6 face too much heat if Apple doesn’t increase the display size again? Would they make interface changes to make the phone usable? or move the power button to the side? All eyes would be on Apple to see how they manage to compete with the bunch of large screen and low cost Androids in 2014. The iPhone 5c is far from the low cost iPod touch like iPhone that Steve Job mentioned in his email back in 2010. Would that eventually happen?


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We’re no longer building the X of somewhere or something — we are the X
Today, after adding 34 unicorns to the list in the last 10 months and raising a record $26 billion+ across 1,100+ funding deals, India’s moment in the sun is here.
Saturday October 30, 2021,
3 min Read
“We’re building the Uber of India or the Airbnb of India”.
If you’ve been tracking the Indian startup space, you would have invariably heard that refrain from many a founder, especially during roadshows, VC pitches, and even at YourStory’s Tech30 presentations.
Silicon Valley startups, as well as those coming out of China have, in recent years, become tropes that startups use to explain their ideas and help investors, in particular, understand their business models.
But today, after adding 34 unicorns to the list in the last 10 months and raising a record $26 billion+ across 1,100+ funding deals, India’s moment in the sun is here.
We’re no longer building the X of somewhere or something — we are the X.
In fact, in a conversation recently with a Latin American founder, I was pleasantly surprised to hear about his plans to build a “BYJU’S of my region”.
And these aren’t sporadic instances.
Even within India, the startup narrative, moving to the interiors of the country, is becoming “I am the Ola or the Swiggy of my region”.
While taking nothing away from Silicon Valley, I see this as a sign of the audacity of ambition that drives Indian startups. You’ll know what I mean when you take a look at our Tech30 list this year which, we, at YourStory, believe really showcases the breadth of the innovation that Indian founders are spearheading. And the record funding we’ve received in the last nine months is testimony to the fact that Indian startups absolutely refuse to let anything deter them — including a global pandemic.
As a tribe that doesn’t rest on its laurels, we’re now looking to the future and asking ourselves, “What’s next?”...how can we do what we’ve been doing, better, and how can we future-proof the ecosystem to set it up for unabashed success.
We were once told that we simply don’t dream big enough, or can measure up to the quality, ambition or talent in the West. But our startups have proved naysayers wrong, and showed that India cannot be written off anymore.
Our story has just begun.
As we come together to celebrate yet another landmark year in the Indian startup ecosystem and our next Tech30 cohort, which we’ve evolved to make it Tech50 signalling the burgeoning startup ecosystem, I’d like to ask the startups waiting in the wings for their unicorn moment — who are YOU of India, and what are you building?
The answer to that question could make a world of difference to what you are doing. And probably make a difference to the world too.


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Although much of the focus lately has been on Razer’s recently launched Phone, Razer’s bread and butter still remains their peripherals lineup. Today, Razer is announcing that they’re revamping the Blackwidow Ultimate mechanical gaming keyboard by now adding improved dust and water resistance.
The newest Razer Blackwidow Ultimate now features an IP54 water and dust resistance rating thanks to its improved Razer Green switches which now feature a wall around the switch to prevent water and dust from entering. Aside from the new water and dust resistance, the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate retains all the features of the previous models including [...]
AmpliFi, the consumer brand of popular enterprise grade networking company, Ubiquiti, recently announced a new kickstarter campaign for a product they call Teleport.
Currently about 40% funded, the AmpliFi Teleport works with AmpliFi’s Mesh Router system and essentially acts as a VPN for users when away from the home. By simply connecting to the Teleport while on the go, users can easily access a home network while outside the home as if they were at home allowing access to shared folders, wireless printing, home automation devices, security systems and more.
Those interested in the AmpliFi Teleport system can now make a pledge at the AmpliFi Teleport [...]
AMD’s former Radeon Technology Group Chief, Raja Koduri, has had an eventful week. After Hexus recently reported on an internal memo Koduri sent to his staff announcing his departure from AMD, Intel recently sent out a press release announcing that Koduri has joined Intel’s newly formed Core and Visual Computing Group.
Back in September, Koduri announced that he’d be going on a sabbatical for personal reasons. In an email, he explained to his staff that he was taking a temporary break to spend some time with his family. Given that Koduri had just overseen AMD’s launch their latest Vega GPU, it didn’t seem like a huge deal at the time. [...]
When Razer acquired Nextbit in January this year, we had a feeling that they would put that acquisition to good use combining Nextbit’s smartphone engineering know-how with Razer’s own gamer twist. After just less than a year in the making, Razer unveiled their latest smartphone which may be the first decent smartphone ever produced specifically for gaming and content consumption.
The new smartphone, which Razer calls the Razer Phone, looks very similar to the Nextbit Robin, which was Nextbit’s flagship smartphone before the company was acquired by Razer. From there, Razer has made some serious enhancements to the product to make it one of the [...]
Industrial Bank of Korea, Nonghyup Bank, Keb Hana Bank and Kookmin Bank are suing now Chinese owned US based online retailer, Newegg, and computer technology distributor, ASI Corp, for allegedly aiding now defunct Korean hardware maker, Monseual, in a Ponzi scheme which defrauded its lenders approximately half a billion dollars and landed the CEO of Monseual, Hong-seok Park, 23 years in prison.
The four South Korea based banks allege that Newegg and ASI helped Monseual secure fraudulent loans by making big purchase orders for Monseual’s products at 300x their actual market value and subsequently receiving kickbacks for their help. As many lenders make loans [...]
In a recent article, Business Korea reports that Samsung is in talks with ASML to purchase 10 EUV production machines at a cost of $176.52 million each.
As semiconductor production processes shrinks below the recently introduced 8nm LPP process, printing chips with the current photochemical etching techniques will become much more difficult resulting in the need for the new EUV production process. Samsung has been aggressively developing chips utilizing EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet) etching technology as they plan on starting production of chips using the 7nm EUV process as early as 2018.
What’s interesting about Samsung’s recent order for EUV [...]
Razer today launched two new peripherals dedicated to streamers: the Razer Kiyo camera and the Razer Siren X microphone.Razer Kiyo
The Razer Kiyo camera aims to solve the problem of streamer’s faces not getting enough light. By attaching a ring light around the camera, it offers an effective, hassle free way of making the streamer more visible.
The camera has a 4MP sensor and can record video at up to 1080p at 30fps, or still images at 2,688x1520p. The field of view is a narrow-ish at 81.6°, but that’s more than enough for most stationary streamers. The Kiyo sits on a L-shaped joint that attaches to your monitor or an optional [...]
Aorus, Gigabyte’s gaming-centric laptop branch, has released the world’s thinnest gaming laptop that packs two Nvidia GTX 1070 GPUs in SLI.
The Aorus X9 is designed for gamers looking to play at QHD/UHD resolutions and is more than VR ready. Complimenting the dual GTX 1070s is an Intel Core i7-7820HK quad-core CPU. The CPU is unlocked, meaning users can overclock it on their own.
Two display options are available: a 17.3″ UHD 3840x2160p IPS display with 100% Adobe RGB color gamut, or a 17.3″ QHD 2560x1440p 120Hz WVA high-refresh rate display. All displays are factory calibrated for the best color accuracy.
Razer has just added the Electra V2 and Electra V2 USB gaming headsets to its peripherals repertoire, bringing many features previously reserved for premium headsets down to the mainstream crowd.
The Razer Electra V2 and V2 USB are both equipped with a pair of custom 40mm Neodymium drivers mounted on a sturdy unibody aluminum frame. Both the earcups and the suspension headrest is padded with plush leatherette cushions. A removable boom mic can be easily stored away when not in use. Volume and mic mute has been integrated directly into the earcup for added convenience.
The Razer Electra V2 uses a unified mic and audio 3.5mm plug for [...]
Zotac just launched the the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Arctic Storm Mini, the world’s smallest GTX 1080 Ti.
The card which measures just 6.46″ wide by 8.35″ long features Zotac’s ArticStorm open loop waterblock to minimize footprint and maximize cooling potential. The waterblock utilizes a nickle plated direct copper contact capped with a transparent, tinted acrylic top. It’s a full coverage waterblock, so it not only covers the GPU, but also the VRMs as well. To give it some extra shine, it also comes with white LEDs installed around the edge.
The robust cooling means higher overclocking potential. Out [...]


text: Silicon Valley is home to the largest population of cybersecurity product companies in the world.\u00a0Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California, is the epicenter of technology (and cybersecurity) venture capital. Scores of venture capital (VC) firms dotting the Bay Area have made it an attractive HQ location for startups seeking funding.\u00a0Investors\u2014especially angels and first round financiers\u2014prefer to be close to their portfolio companies. Simply put, where there are VCs, there will be startups.\u00a0Bob Ackerman is the managing director and founder of Allegis Capital in Palo Alto, California, one of the best-known and most successful VC firms that invests into early-stage cybersecurity companies\u2014a bulk of them hailing from Northern California.\u00a0Now Ackerman is dropping a line in the Washington, D.C., Beltway waters. His phish-finder says there's 350 percent more cyber engineers and analysts in that area than the rest of the U.S. combined.\u00a0Mike Janke, former chairman of Silent Circle, a former Navy SEAL, and a highly respected cybersecurity industry veteran, has teamed up with Ackerman on their own startup\u2014Fulton, Maryland-based DataTribe\u2014a holding company that focuses on helping local entrepreneurs productize cyber technology solutions.\u00a0While the D.C. metro area is long on cybersecurity talent, it\u2019s short on cybersecurity product companies, according to a paper written by Ackerman and Janke. They say Beltway cyber experts lack the commercial DNA essential to commercialize market growth.\u00a0DataTribe is an incubator of sorts\u2014complete with venture capital, office space, in-house experts providing a range of start-up help, and most important\u2014access to alumni who have transitioned to the private sector and built successful cybersecurity product companies.\u00a0While the D.C. metro area doesn't have nearly the number of cybersecurity product companies in proportion to its local cyber talent pool compared to San Francisco or Israel (the world's number two exporter of cybersecurity technology behind the U.S.)\u2014it does boast an impressive and growing roster.\u00a0Cybersecurity who's who in the D.C. metro area\u00a0A short list of some hot, cybersecurity product-centric companies in the Virginia\/Maryland\/D.C. region:\u00a0Arxan, Bethesda, Md.Centripetal, Herndon, Va.CYREN, McLean, Va.Daon, Washington, D.C.Distil Networks, Arlington, Va.Dragos, Washington, D.C.Endgame, Arlington, Va.ePlus Security, Herndon, Va.GigaTrust, Herndon, Va.Haystax, McLean, Va.IronNet Cybersecurity, Fulton, Md.LookingGlass, Arlington, Va.Nehemiah Security, Tysons Corner, Va.Novetta, McLean, Va.Ntrepid, Herndon, Va.Oberthur Technologies, Chantilly, Va.PhishMe, Leesburg, Va.Protenus, Baltimore, Md.RedOwl, Baltimore, Md.Risk Based Security, Richmond, Va.Saint Corporation, Bethesda, Md.Surfwatch Labs, Sterling, Va.Tenable Network Security, Columbia, Md.ThreatConnect, Arlington, Va.ThreatQuotient, Reston, Va.Thycotic, Washington, D.C.TrustedKnight, Annapolis, Md.Verisign, Reston, Va.Virgil Security, Manassas, Va.Virtu, Washington, D.C.ZeroFox, Baltimore, Md.\u00a0This list doesn\u2019t include all of the impressive product companies in the area or the much larger number of cybersecurity consulting, advisory and professional services firms.\u00a0Born and raised in D.C.\u00a0One company, Dragos, born in Washington, D.C., is a DataTribe resident. Robert Lee, founder and CEO at Dragos, partnered with DataTribe to get his startup off the ground.Dragos is poised to raise venture capital shortly. Lee\u2019s venture is focused on industrial control systems (ICS) security, an emerging and fast-growing cyber sector.\u00a0The highly experienced team of ICS and IIoT security experts at Dragos will benefit from the commercialization experience that DataTribe brings. Raising a product company is a lot different than raising a services firm, and Lee is smart enough to know the difference.\u00a0Much like many of his Beltway contemporaries, Lee is an ex-cyber military expert. He pursued cybersecurity in the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a Cyber Warfare Operations Officer in the U.S. Intelligence Community.\u00a0The mashup of DataTribe and local cyber-preneurs is sure to breed new product companies in the D.C. metro area. But one startup studio will do only\u00a0so much. It remains to be seen if more Sand Hill money will flow into the Beltway.Visit\u00a0SteveOnCyber.com\u00a0to read all of my blogs and articles covering cybersecurity.\u00a0Follow me on Twitter\u00a0@CybersecuritySF, or connect with me on\u00a0LinkedIn. Send story tips, feedback and suggestions to me\u00a0here.


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Brands have an opportunity to create more meaningful connections with Chinese consumers who identify with the tenacity and perseverance of local entrepreneurs.
An expanded APAC HQ aims to employ 250 staff by 2021.
NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand Insurance (NZI) has launched a brand campaign to enlighten business owners about unforeseen risks.
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By Gemma Goldfingle2011-12-01T09:39:00
Upmarket fashion brand Hugo Boss is to launch its first stand-alone store for its Hugo brand as it mulls opening its first womenswear fascia in the UK.
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Surging DSW steps up store opening pace
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DSW Inc. plans to open 35 to 40 stores in 2012, but it’s unclear where the shoe and accessories retailer will plant its string of added spaces.
The Columbus company’s plans would double its long-term goal of opening 15 to 20 stores a year, according to a press release.
“The expansion of our footprint into new and existing markets is a key growth initiative for us as we further solidify our position as a destination for great brands, fashion and value in the footwear industry,” CEO Mike MacDonald said in a release.
The announcement comes after a big earnings swing in DSW’s fiscal third quarter, ended Oct. 29, and what MacDonald called “strong November and December sales results.”
DSW (NYSE:DSW) netted $53.7 million, or 75 cents a share, in the quarter, up from a loss of $3.3 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier. The 2011 third-quarter earnings got a $13.9 million boost from the company’s acquisition of Retail Ventures Inc.
The company raised its annual earnings guidance to $2.96 to $2.99 a share, from $2.90 to $2.95, according to a release.
Rick Rouan covers banking, capital markets, insurance, logistics, nonprofits, area airports and air travel for Business First.
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From this article originally published in the Washington Post:
Songs that were heavily downloaded showed no measurable drop in sales, the researchers found after tracking sales of 680 albums over the course of 17 weeks in the second half of 2002. Matching that data with activity on the OpenNap file-sharing network, they concluded that file sharing actually increases CD sales for hot albums that sell more than 600,000 copies. For every 150 downloads of a song from those albums, sales increase by a copy, the researchers found.
Very interesting indeed. But I wonder what p2p filesharing’s effect on songs that aren’t on “hot albums that sell more than 600,000 copies”? For many years, I’ve believed that p2p filesharing can only help such songs. But I’d love to see some empirical research to support this.
Oberholzer-Gee and his colleague, University of North Carolina’s Koleman Strumpf, also said that their “most pessimistic” statistical model showed that illegal file sharing would have accounted for only 2 million fewer compact discs sales in 2002, whereas CD sales declined by 139 million units between 2000 and 2002. “From a statistical point of view, what this means is that there is no effect between downloading and sales,” said Oberholzer-Gee.
Now, I am of course suspicious of statistical analyses. But this is good stuff. Bottom line, p2p filesharing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The music industry will either adapt or die.


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Friday, January 23, 2004, 08:00 am PT (11:00 am ET)
USA Today details Pepsi iTunes Super Bowl adAccording to USA Today, Pepsi's iTunes Super Bowl ad spot will feature some 20 teens who were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America, which accuses them of unauthorized downloads.
"Annie Leith, a 14-year-old from Staten Island, appears with other downloaders in the ad, which features music by Green Day." The punk rock band has reportedly cut a special version of the 1966 Bobby Fuller Four hit I Fought the Law for the ad, by BBDO, New York.
In the ad, Leith holds a Pepsi and proclaims: "We are still going to download music for free off the Internet. The ad announcer will then explain how by announcing the Pepsi iTunes Giveaway.
Earlier this week, an Apple spokesman told CNN that the company doesn't have any plans to advertise during the Super Bowl to mark the ad's 20th anniversary, but did inquire how many ad spots were left.
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch is expected to introduce a Super Bowl ad that features a donkey who wants to be a Clydesdale horse, and Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo Inc., is expected to premier a spot showing a pair of barely ambulatory grandparents scrambling over each other for a bag of potato chips. Grandpa will reportedly get to the bag first, only to find that Grandma has stolen his dentures.
On Topic: General
- Future Apple devices may boast environmental sensor suite with built-in thermometer
- Apple's display tech lets users interact with 3D objects in mid-air
- Judge denies Apple motion to stay upcoming e-books damages trial
- Apple 'on the prowl' with 24 acquisitions in last year and a half
- Google agreed to pick up tab for some Samsung legal fees, take on liability in case of loss


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Marko Ahtisaari, the CEO of Dopplr, has just posted a blog post on the Dopplr Blog that Nokia indeed has acquired the company. Furthermore, Nokia has confirmed this with their own press release. Last week we quoted on ArcticStartup a rumour originating from Techcrunch that Nokia has acquired them. This stirred up a lot of publicity and since no party confirmed the rumour and one of the co-founders stated the deal was fabricated – we were under mixed messages and were unable to decide which side is right.
Ahtisaari writes on the Dopplr blog, “Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Dopplr has been acquired by Nokia. Nokia shares our vision of the Social Atlas, the idea that social location data can improve our experience of cities.” So Nokia is after the location based services here with the acquisition. They continue on the track proven by the purchase of Plazes. Although it is yet difficult to state how these services will form in the future.
What makes this interesting even further, is the fact that Nokia states in their press release “The acquisition does not change the current Dopplr service which is available at Dopplr.com and on platforms where Dopplr is integrated.” So does this mean they won’t have any big plans regarding the service or that they are buying the IPR behind Dopplr with this acquisition? Beats me, but congrats to the Dopplr team nevertheless! Wonderful job and a good pay back for the investors in this business climate.
Update (14.25, 28.9.2009): According to Helsingin Sanomat, the the price paid for the acquisition is dramatically smaller than the initially rumoured 10-15 million euros.


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Johnson Center ornaments now available for sale
Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 7, 2009
The 2009 Johnson Center for the Arts Christmas ornaments have arrived and are on sale at the arts center on East Walnut Street in Troy.
Richard Metzger, JCA exeutive director, said the limited edition ornaments make great Christmas gifts and also are collector’s and keepsake items.
“Already people are reserving their ornaments and we only have 150,” Metzger said.
“So we encourage everyone not to wait too long to get these special ornaments. The 2009 ornament design features the arched window that is one of the many features of the Johnson Center.”
The ornaments are handmade fussed glass crafted by local artist, Walter Black, exclusively for the Johnson Center.
They are $15 each and will be shipped anywhere for a $5 shipping and handling fee.
The Johnson Center for the Arts Christmas ornaments are an annual offering of the arts center and should be collector’s items.
Last year’s edition was a ceramic ornament by Alabama artist Tara Sartorius.
Metzger said the idea is to use a local artist each year to design and create an ornament specific to the Johnson Center or related arts.
To reserve a 2009 Johnson Center for the Arts ornament, call 670-2287 or visit the Johnson Center on East Walnut Street in Troy.
“Be sure to add this beautiful ornament to your Christmas tree before they are all sold out,” Metzger said.


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You may have noticed something different about the internet today. Many of the web’s most popular sites, including Google, Reddit, and Wikipedia, are participating in a protest against two anti-piracy bills currently working their way through Congress. The Protect IP/Stop Online Piracy Acts (Senate and House versions, respectively) have caused a storm of controversy among the web’s tech-elite, who warn that the bills violate the protections of free speech, and even "break" the internet as we know it. So what’s the deal with these bills?
Both bills aim to curb piracy (both of digital media and real-world products like sports jerseys or medications) by foreign websites like The Pirate Bay. The original drafts of both bills contained language that would require Internet service providers to block users from accessing the web domains of sites accused of infringement (the details are a bit technical, but Cato’s Jim Harper provides an explanation in layman’s terms). This domain-blocking provision was a huge concern among internet techies, who warned that such a law would effectively break the way the internet has worked for the last two decades. As a result, the blocking provisions have been pulled from each bill, though some experts believe they will reappear in later legislation.
What really has netizens up in arms is the language in SOPA that could result in entire websites being taken down or cut off from advertisers or search engines over an accusation (but crucially, not a conviction) that they “facilitate” piracy. This measure has been compared to using a flame-thrower to kill a mosquito. The measure puts the entire social web, in which ordinary users generate and post content, at risk of going down thanks to a few bad actors. The only way for a large site like Facebook or Twitter to avoid punishment would be for them to closely monitor every link or status that gets posted to their sites (and with over 200 million tweets per day, that’s an impossible task). These bills place a huge compliance burden on online businesses and could permanently choke entrpreneurship in a sector that's seen unmitigated growth since its inception. Piracy is a serious issue, but crippling one of the healthiest sectors of the economy isn't the proper response.
As problematic as SOPA and PIPA are for website owners, the bills also have serious implications for free speech online. As Julian Sanchez explains in this video from Cato, blocking or removing an entire web domain because of one potentially infringing statement amounts to censorship:


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Tesla Model S Gets Second Price Cut of the Week to $69,420
【Summary】In what turned out to be a truly bizarre week for Tesla’s flagship sedan, the Model S received two dramatic price cuts to become far more affordable.
Tesla, despite selling more and more vehicles every quarter, is not a traditional automaker. It doesn't have a traditional network of dealerships, it doesn't service vehicles in a traditional way, and it doesn't manufacture traditional cars. That gives the brand a lot of wiggle room to do untraditional things – like make price cuts whenever it deems necessary. While the majority of other automakers would usually wait for a new model year to announce changes, especially ones that have to deal with pricing, Tesla does things when it wants.
Model S Gets Cheaper
That's why the Model S got two drastic price cuts this week. At the beginning of last week, Tesla announced that the Model S would get a $3,000 price cut. With the decrease, pricing for the Model S Long Range started at $73,190 (including destination) compared to $76,190. Seeing a popular, cutting-edge vehicle go down by $3,000 for no rhyme or reason is a huge deal. Pricing for the Performance trim also went down by $3,000 to $93,190. In the Model S lineup, the Plaid trim was the only one that didn't go down in pricing.
The price cut matched what Tesla did with its other electric vehicles earlier this year. In July, the Model Y went down by $3,000. Earlier this May, the Model 3 saw a $2,000 price cut, the Model X went down by $5,000, and the Model 3 saw a $2,000 price decrease. So, while it wasn't normal, it kind of was at the same time.
Then, a few days later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to reveal that the Model S would be getting another price cut. "The gauntlet has been thrown down!" reads Musk's tweet. "The prophecy will be fulfilled. Model S price changes to $69,420 tonight!"
Why The Price Cut Now?
Musk, as many Tesla fans know, is a huge fan of those numbers. He was following 69 people on Twitter for a long time, smoked weed on the Joe Rogan podcast, and introduced Tesla Short Shorts for $69.42. It's childish and all about appealing to meme lovers on the internet, but this is exactly why Tesla is so much more than a traditional automaker.
With the latest price cut, the Model S now starts at $70,620 including destination, which is an additional decrease of $2,570. In just one week, pricing for the Model S went down by $5,570. That, for an automaker, is unheard of.
There are a few rational reasons as to why Tesla decided to decrease the pricing of its flagship sedan. Third-quarter results are expected to come out on October 21 and the fourth quarter will start after that. With the COVID-19 pandemic throwing Tesla a wrench when it comes to manufacturing, the automaker is probably looking to reach its goal of selling 500,000 EVs in 2020. To reach that mark, Tesla's going to have to move 182,000 EVs. More affordable cars will help it do that.
Vineeth Joel Patel
Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods
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TESLA SUPERCHARGERS COMING TO AMERICAN CITY CENTRES
Over the past five years since Tesla launched, it has expanded its Supercharger network to include more than 5,400 outlets across the globe. The company has now announced that they have plans to fit out downtown centres with Supercharger stations, to help ease the range anxiety for urban dwellers.
Tesla has played a big part in driving the adoption of electric cars and now the company is making sure that there are extensive charging infrastructures that will have an equally important role to play. Tesla recently announced plans to double the total number of charging outlets to more than 10,000 by year's end, including a 150 percent increase in North America.
The Supercharger stations – for the urban areas – will have a more compact design to better fit the cramped environments and make it easier to install. They will also sport a new kind of architecture, one that delivers 72 kW of power to the car without affecting the charging speeds of cars plugged into adjacent outlets.
Tesla says the charging time will be between 45 and 50 minutes and will offer the same pricing as the exciting Superchargers.
Eventually, Tesla says these urban Superchargers will be found at places like supermarkets, shopping centres and downtown districts, so users can recharge their vehicles while grabbing a coffee or some groceries. The first installations will come to Boston and Chicago, with other locations to follow.


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Unlimited calls to the USA and Canada, for example, are a gift bonus for customers who purchase their package or recharge from US$2 at points of sale in San Miguel, Usulután, Morazán and La Unión in the eastern part of the country.
"We know that our customers in this area of the country need to be in constant communication with their family and friends in the United States and Canada, and we want to facilitate that communication, we want to be part of that connection and shorten the distance of borders through technology", explained Claudia de Juarez, Marketing leader.
For customers in Santa Ana, Ahuachapán and Sonsonate, in the western part of the country, they will receive 5GB extra gigabytes when purchasing recharges or #ConTodo packages starting at $2 so they can share content, photos and more on their social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and Spotify.
The gift vouchers will be valid for 24 hours and will be applied automatically from the subscription of the #ConTodo package purchased or when recharging at the points of sale located exclusively in participating departments. This benefit also applies to new customers who activate a SIM or purchase a Movistar smartphone with a $2 package or recharge.
"With these promotions we want to get closer to our customers and offer them benefits that we know are useful for them to be closer to their loved ones and to share their favorite activities with everyone they want", said de Juarez.
The promotion will run from march 3 through march 31. Immediately after the purchase of the package or recharge, the customer will receive a text message on their phone informing of the activation of the bonus.
Movistar El Salvador keeps its promise of constant transformation to move towards a promising digital future thanks to its diversified strategy of products and services that accompany the habits and connectivity challenges of salvadorans, as well as the digital transition processes of entrepreneurs, micro, small, medium and large companies in this new reality.


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Sega ending Osharemajo service in September
Fierce competition cited as reason for killing off card gaming classic
Citing fierce competition, Sega announced today that it will be ending service on Oshare Majo Love and Berry in mid September.
Oshare Majo (translated unofficially as Fashionable Witches) followed Sega's breakthrough Mushi King to the card gaming market in October 2004 and ended up becoming a sensation amongst young girls. The title spawned an apparel business, which has since closed, and saw a DS conversion that sold over a million copies.
The decision to kill off the title was made, according to Sega's PR department, due to competition with other companies in the card game field. Sega believes that the market has reached its peak. However, the company also noted that as the market is cyclical, it will continue developing games that target young girls.
Sega will stop sales and service of retail machines for the game. However, shop owners will determine on their own when to stop selling cards and remove the machines from their storefronts.